The Omega Squad
by Dragon of Decimation
Summary: Stormtrooper AV-P20, also know by his comrades as Rusher, is noticed by the higher ranking officials of the Stormtrooper ranks. He displays great amounts of bravery and another, very desirable trait... He is given the chance to join the Omega squad; a group of elite scout troopers. He intends to join but the question is, can he even make it past their basic training?
1. Landing

(Reviews are encouraged and appreciated!)

Chapter 1

Log entry #32

 _\- "I had no idea where our platoon was being dropped on the battlefield as our drop ship took off from the star destroyer, until we were breifed by our squad leader. We were to provide cover to an AT-AT in the northern section of the forest closest to the rebel compound. The Imperials had pushed the scum back to their stronghold but were taking heavy fire from mounted blaster cannons and a seemingly endless line of rebels. Little did I know how bad it was down there, how much fire we were taking, how much we would lose..."_

Stormtrooper AV-P20 took a steady breath in, in his helmet as the sounds of battle got closer, penetrating the armor plating of the drop ship. His standard E-11 blaster hung between his knees, barely scraping the floor. The ship rattled because of a nearby explosion, making the Stormtrooper next to him hit the back of his helmet on the wall. "Damnit, again." SL-3C cursed as he adjusted his helmet back into position. "I'm suprised you even knew your helmed was crooked, Obli, It's usually your head." AV-P20 joked. "At least I don't eat trash on a regular basis, Rusher."

Rusher. AV-P20's nickname. Just as Obli was to SL-3C, most Stormtroopers had nicknames for each other so that they weren't just a number. The Empire frowned on troopers using their birth names. It interfered with the order and uniformity of the Empire's plans.

A deeper voice came from the row across from them. "It's not trash if it's good." Rusher could sense AS-12's smile from under his helmet. "I guess I just don't understand why ewok liver would be considered a delecacy." Obli responded. "Well it is when you're a Stormtrooper." Rusher responded. "We hardly get anything besides basic rations and protien shakes." "True." AS-12 agreed. "When I am offered something with some variety, I am going to eat it." "That's what's wrong with you, Side-swipe. You'd eat a filgin ewok head with maggots and explosives in it if it was put in front of you." Obli retorted. "Probably." The deeper voice chimed in.

The click of the speakers chirped in. _"Listen up troops, this is the pilot. We'll be dropping on the beautiful planet of Yevit in forty seconds. Do a last minute check of your gear and be ready. The zone is hot."_

Rusher checked his clip and ensured he had his grenades and thermal detonators attatched to his ammo belt. Everyone else did the same. If you got caught with the wrong equipment in the wrong situation, you will be dead.

Side-swipe turned the safety off of his EE-3 blaster, still pointed at the floor. Obli and Rusher followed. The squad leader came out from the front of the ship, an orange stripe covered one of his shoulder pads, showing his higher rank. His worn, scraped-up duraplast armor showed that well enough. "Run north west of here until you put eyes on the AT-AT. Provied cover suppot for it, and it will do the same for you. If that thing doesn't make it to the stronghold, the mission is a failure." He ended with a scream as two TIE fighters zipped by, firing lasers at the drop zone, taking out any rebels in the imediate area.

Rusher felt that zip of adrenaline flash through his body as the sound of theTIE fighters explotions rippled through the ship. He peered out the tiny window to see the drop-ship quickly descending, firing lasers from it's ball turrets into the forest which was ablaze with fire. Something else bubbled up into Rushers throat, seeing the TIE fighters on his side, working together to clear the area. Pride.

The ship lurched and the back door opened. "GO, GO, GO." The squad leader yelled. The Stormtroopers charged out the back and around the small twenty person ship. The stark sunlight hit Rushers eyes as they filed out of the back. He was right behind Obli. It wasn't long before they were all out and rushed foreward into the forest. The dropship quickly took back off into the air, continuing to provide fire support as it flew foreward.

Blaster fire zipped through the forest in the distance as Rusher jumped over a pile of burning foilage, seeing a charred body buried under it. The troopers scattered through the tall trees firing blasters at enemies Rusher couldn't see yet.

A missle zoomed overhead in the derection of the stronghold, exploding as it collided with the ground. Blaster fire zipped over Rushers head who slid on his belly under a large fern. He saw alot of movement in the forest. He blasted a volley of shots towards a group of rebels across the ridge and, not seeing if his shots collided, rolled around the back side of the tree and ran on.

A Stormtrooper in front of him had taked cover behind some roots of a massive tree. Rusher slid in behind him but before he could ask him what the situation was, a laser zipped through the leaves and landed itself in the troopers head who slumped onto his face. Unfazed, Rusher pushed him out of the way and took up the same position. He took aim down the sights to see an AT-ST about onehundred yards away, acompanied by about ten Stormtroopers, fire upon a trench swarmmed with rebels.

The sound of a rocked grew closer to his position. Rusher ducked and covered as the rocket ,intended for the AT-ST, missed and flew directly at him. It landed behind him, shrapnel bouncing off his armor. A white figure ran through the smoke and slid in next to him then fired a whole clip out towards the trench only to recieve return fire, spraying lasers only inches above their heads.

"Obli?" "Youbecha." Obli responded as he replaced his clip, completely lying down. "Thought you were dead." he said rather flatly.

Two more troopers came in behind him. "Get down!" Rusher yelled, but not before one got hit in the chest by a sniper shot then fell to the ground. The other trooper didn't need to be told twice. "We need to flank this trench." Rusher yelled as a mortar shot landed next to them, spraying soil all over the three. "Agreed." The third trooper confirmed. He poked his head around the tree and fired a few shots then lobbed a grenade down the other side of the tree, the sound of a rebel scream followed. _I didn't even see that guy._ Rusher thought with a quick chill. If this trooper hadn't come just now, he and Obli may have been dead.

He peeked out over the root top to see a fairly large squad of maybe fifteen Stormtroopers moving along the bottom of the ridge drawing fire from the entrenched rebels. "We need to go. Now!" Rusher scrambled up and bolted to the next tree then to the next. Before he took cover behind the tree he saw the tops of white helmets in the ground. _A trench!_ Rusher rushed foreward and jumped into the relatively deep ditch. To his supprise, the place was swamped with Stormtroopers. Obli quickly followed him into the trench except he tripped and fell face first to the bottom.

Rusher pushed his back to the wall. "I guess you didn't see the trench." Rusher commented towards Obli who got himself off the ground. He just grunted.

Rusher waited for the other trooper to follow suit into the entrenchment but he never came. "Where did the other guy go?" "I don't know." Obli responded not looking back then lobbed a grenade over into the trees. _He's gone._ Rusher concluded.

Lasers zipped and exploded with showers of sparks right over their heads. Before Rusher could get his bearings he heard that dreaded word- "Grenade!" Before Rusher could hit the floor, the ripple of the impact from the explosion hit him, propeling him into the wall, making him slam his head into the soil. He coughed in his helmet, making the visor fogged up, only allowing him to see blurs of color. He slowly sat up, hearing muffled sounds all around him. Some of them were sharper, such as a scream or the sound of speeder bikes flying over the trench.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned, still dazed. Rusher saw Obli looking down on him. "Are you OK?" Rusher took a second to get his bearings, seeing a warm orange glow to his right, where the grenade exploded. He took a breath. "Are you OK, Rusher?" "Yeah ,yeah I'm fine." Then slowly stood up.

He had recovered his senses mostly now, only to see Stormtrooper bodies everywhere. A few ran around hectacly firing their blasters over the trench edge.

Rusher grabbed his blaster and, taking no more notice of Obli, rose his head over the trench and aimed down the sights. There were rebels everywhere. He saw a few fighting a speeder bike rider off his bike then they shot him in the head. Various groups took cover hiding begind trees, while others were in the trees, firing down into the trench, striking down troopers all around him. Rusher saw a rebel running diagonally towards the direction of the trench. Rusher took aim as he focused on the man clad in green camoflague armor. Rusher squeezed the trigger.

THOO

The laser almost instantly reached the man, striking him in the thigh. Rusher re-aimed at a group of soilders and fired rapidly upon them. Other troopers did the same and the cell was taken down quickly. Blaster fire landed on the ground right in front of him and he ducked for cover. From the moment that he looked over the edge of the trench to taking cover again, took no more than three seconds.

"Do you know where Side-swipe is?" Rusher asked. It was easy to get seperated from the rest of your squad in a hectic deployment. He dropped his spent clip on the ground. "No." Obli responded. "Like you think I'd know." Despite the situation, Rusher almost smiled. "I bet we could reach him over comms." Obli responded as he dialed in on his wrist pad. "Obli to Side-swipe." The call echoed in Rusher's helmet also. "Side-swipe here. What is it?" Rusher heard the sounds of battle from Side-swipe's end of the reception. It sounded bad. "What is your current location?" "West of the AT-AT. I'm having trouble geting to it. My group is pinned down hard in a crater. I expected you not to know where I was, Obli." Side-swipe said lamely. Obli sighed over the comms. "Just hold your filgin position until we can reach you, alright?" "Not like I can move anyway- shilvit! The guy next to me now needs a head donation. Get the herl over here!" "We're on our way." Obli answered as he started moving down the trench, keeping low. "Is Rusher with you?" "He's in the comm." "We'll be there in a few minutes Side-swipe." Rusher responded. "You better." was the last thing he heard before the comm clicked out.

"So much for flanking the trench." Rusher followed Obli across the place were the grenade landed moments before.

A trooper with red markings covering his armor and holding a SE-14C blaster pistol, somewhat casually, walked towards Rusher and Obli stopping them in their tracks. He stood upright, while they, and the other troopers in the trench all hunckered down. The high ranking Leutanant held the blaster pistol to his side, his weapon choice showing off his high rank of officer. "I need you two north of here. There is an AT-ST heading towards the AT-AT to provide it cover. I need you two to help get it there. It's escorts are being taken out one-by-one. Go NOW!" He then shoved past them and walked up to the comm machine that stood along the wall of the trench.

"Let's go." was all Obli said as he solemnly clicked his comm back on and ran through the trench. "Obli to Side-swipe. We can not provide back-up. Repeat we can not come help you."

A sinking feeling hit Rusher's stomach as he sprinted through the thinning trench as the truth set in. The tough training that they recieved in Stormtrooper camp taught them not to think sentamentally, to only be concerned about the mission. But he couldn't help the little voice pop up in the back of his head. He tried to resist it but couldn't. They weren't going to save their friend.


	2. Falling

Chapter 2

Log entry #33

-" _I didn't know if side-swipe was going to die or not. But before long, the situation changed. We soon got over run by rebels and they had destroyed the comm stations in the area so we couldn't call for help. But that wasn't the worst thing that had happened that day. It wasn't the worst thing that had happened to me ."_

Rusher dashed between laser shots from a rebel solider right before Obli shot the attacker. The Stormtroopers put their back to the tree that they had come upon. The sound of their AT-ST was heard through a few groups of trees. The sounds of injured Stormtroopers came from the same direction.

"I'll cover you as you run up to the top of the ridge. Then you cover me on the way back." Obli nodded then took off as Rusher ducked down to scan his sectors. Once Obli clambered up the dirt wall, he signaled for Rusher who ran across the clearing and did the same, ignoring the blaster fire sounds in the immediate area.

Obli helped pull Rusher over then they continued on their path towards the AT-ST which was now coming into view. The tall bipod looked pretty beat up. Black blaster marks covered its metal hide. Shards of its armor were torn off by what looked like well places grenade shots and it looked like only one of the two main blasters that the AT-ST used, were working. The other just dangled down, useless.

Obli was running in front of Rusher, who put his hand on his shoulder, signaling him to stop and cover. The duo ducked into the ferns to survey the situation better. Rusher brought his blaster up and looked down into its scope. He followed the AT-ST and Stormtrooper blaster fire into the fauna which has blue lasers zipping out of them, the crossfire singeing the plants, making small rings of fire as they flew through them. Rusher couldn't see any rebels from this point.

"I can't see them." Obli yelled to Rusher over the raging blaster fire, the AT-ST making loud noised as it walked and shot. "And there aren't many Troopers left." "I count three." Rusher added.

They were about fifty meters away from the AT-ST and needed to get closer. "Let's go" Obli said, then took off as a few more Stormtroopers stormed past them. Rusher didn't need to be told twice. He got off the dirt and charged forward, firing into the brush at the unseen enemies.

The trooper in front of him got shot and stumbled forward, making Rusher trip over him, making him miss fire his blaster. Rusher's face hit the ground then he rolled over behind the injured Trooper, who was screaming as he gripped his molten guts falling out of him, bubbling blood pouring out. Rusher yelled "Hold still!" then rested his blaster on the Troopers arm, aiming down the scope, turning on the thermal. The sights turned to blue and oranges. About one hundred yards out, about twenty rebels and a mounted turret were firing in their direction. Rusher needed a better vantage point.

He pulled a small capsule out of his pack, flicked a small lever on it, on, and then left it on the ground next to the fallen Trooper.

Rusher pushed up off the ground and sprinted right towards the AT-ST then slid down behind one of its legs as blaster fire exploded all around them. Obli was crouching behind the left leg of the slowly advancing vehicle. Other troopers were also taking cover behind the legs, many not getting enough cover. One of the others got a laser straight to the forehead. Rusher could barely see the blood splatter behind the shaded eye visors.

"This isn't good." Another said as he took a thermal detonator form another trooper then loaded it into a thermal launcher. He hefted the heavy weapon up then fired it through the trees and not more than a moment later, a large shock of force rippled through the forest.

Momentarily the opposing firing stopped. Rusher looked at Obli, who he knew had a ' _could it be over?'_ look on his face. But that ended very quickly. The firing resumed with even more intensity than before.

"They must have a filgin force-field." The launcher Trooper grunted with anger as he resumed cover again.

The AT-ST took two large steps forward, making the Troopers on the ground stumble to take cover again.

THOO

The guy at the back of the pack fell onto his back. Another Trooper down. "Shilvit!" The Troopers partner yelled as he dropped his blaster to inspect the lifeless body. "Pick your blaster back up Trooper." A third Stormtrooper yelled at him. "He's dead!" the partner sobbed. "What's wrong with you?! Of course he's dead. "Now take cover-" he couldn't utter another word before a volley of lasers collided with the mourning Trooper, who fell next to his dead partner.

"Idiot." The third trooper muttered as he turned and shot into the burning brush.

Rusher couldn't do anything else before the AT-ST above them made a large grinding noise. "That's not good." Obli stated. A few more rebel shots whizzed out of the plants and found their mark in the middle joint of the machines left leg. Sparks flew all over the now small group of five Troopers then the AT-ST started to lean to the left. "Shilvit." Rusher muttered. It lurched to the left as its leg collapsed, falling then slamming into the ground with a big thud, making mud fly everywhere.

Laser fire zipped into the troopers, colliding with most of them. Rusher stumbled up and nearly crawled on all fours to get behind the head of the AT-ST. Obli was right in front of him, mud covering his armor from all of the lying down. By the time Rusher got to Obli, he was already trying to undo the hatch door on the back of the AT-ST. He was putting a lot of force into the metal wheel but it wouldn't budge. "We need to get them out of there! They're sitting ducks." Rusher shouldered his blaster and put his hands on the wheel. "On three. One. Two. THREE!" The two grunted with effort as the wheel wouldn't budge.

"Move over." A Trooper behind Rusher commanded. Rusher turned to see that it was the Trooper that had fired the thermal detonator earlier. "Cover us." He commanded once more as he took up Rushers former position. Rusher put his back up to the head of the AT-ST as he pointed his blaster into the tree line. Rusher soon noticed that they were the only three Troopers left.

"Push!" the other Trooper yelled as he and Obli tried to turn the wheel. After a moment of pushing, it gave, nearly dislocating the two Trooper's shoulders. They threw the door open which landed on the ground as it opened all the way.

An explosion happened on the other side on the AT-ST, knocking rusher forward. He got back up, grabbed a grenade, primed it, and then hurled it over the top of the fallen vehicle.

He looked over just in time to see the other Trooper drag a bloodied female AT-ST driver out of the cock pit. "Where's the other guy?" Obli yelled over the approaching blaster fire. "In the co-pilot seat, melted to it." Obli froze for a second then slumped onto his butt.

Rusher pointed his blaster over the top of the head and, without looking, unloaded a whole clip. The response fire was intense. The sound of the lasers hitting the metal armor of the AT-ST all started to blend together. "What's your name anyway?" Rusher asked the thermal launcher trooper as he propped the injured driver up against his AT-ST. His heavy launcher was on the ground next to him. After a moment of not saying anything he responded. "Just call me 'X'". "Alight, X. How do you suppose we get out of this?" "I would call for a concentrated air strike and hope that we don't get killed in the process, but the scum have destroyed our comm nodes in the area. Rusher checked his wrist pad to see that there was no signal. He tapped the screen to see that there was no response. Just then did he realize that he hadn't been getting any transmissions for the last few minutes.

Obli sat up. "We can make space ships that can go light speed and recruit seven billion storm troopers, but we can't set up proper communications with someone a kilometer away.

"We can do this…" X proposed. "What?" Obli asked. X pulled a small box out of his pack. Obli gasped. "No, no, no. That's the wrong franchise!" "That doesn't matter right now." X stated. "But when I activate this, we all need to sprint straight back and stay within the line of cover from this this thing." He jabbed his thumb at the fallen vehicle. "I need you-" he pointed at Obli. "-to help me carry this poor sap." He gestured to the moaning AT-ST driver. "Alright." Obli nodded reluctantly then took in a big breath. "Let's do this."

X looked at Rusher who nodded agreement. The rebels seemed to be moving closer. X set the metal box on the ground. "When I push this, we pick her up, stay low, and run like we're escaping Hell. You got it?" "Yes" Rusher and Obli both nodded. Immediately X pushed the button and a projection of a Stormtrooper appeared, who ran out the behind the AT-ST, running parallel to the line of rebels. The blaster fire intensified as they shot at the fake trooper. Rusher turned back to the others to see that the driver was already hoisted up, one of her arms around each one of their shoulders. He got up and fell in line behind them who were already a few steps away. Their fit bodies hardly being slowed down by the added weight of the injured trooper.

"Just make it to the tree line!" Rusher yelled. He looked down as a laser zipped onto the ground next to them. He noticed that the driver's feet were dragging along the ground. Then something weird hit him. A weird déjà vu moment within this moment of horror and chaos. He couldn't pinpoint what he was experiencing but one thing was certain. He couldn't remove his gaze from the trooper's feet with blood streams trickling down to her toes, to finally fall onto the ground. The world felt more elevated and rounded. More… slow. Like nothing could hurt him.

Rusher snapped out of it to realize that he had stopped. He looked up to see that the three were ten meters ahead. Then the adrenaline flew through his veins as goosebumps fluctuated over his skin as a terrible screeching sound quickly grew louder behind him.

"Rusher!" was the last thing he heard as the ground flew up around him and dirt and fire flew up and forward around him. His body was elevated and thrown into a tree in a matter of a quarter second. He felt his body continue to fall and tumble. He didn't know where though. He came to a stop as he hit something hard. Or at least he thought. He didn't know what just happened. He was so confused. All he could see was black.

His mouth gapped open as some liquid trickled out of it. He couldn't feel his limbs. _What was going on?_ "Help." He muttered lamely, not able to muster the energy. He felt dizzy. He coughed up some more of the liquid that may or may not have been blood. He tasted the coppery taste in his mouth confirming his fears. It's blood. The taste almost made him gag but he couldn't sit up to take his helmet off and spit it all out since he couldn't move his limbs either. _I need to get this out._ Rusher attempted to spit it out inside his helmet but the small bit he was able to get out, fell back onto his face.

 _Thirsty_. His mouth felt so parched. The blood was providing no substance to his need. But there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't have any spare water on him. Even if he did he couldn't reach it. At that point he gave up trying to make himself more comfortable.

Then he felt something cool start to trickle into the back of his suit. _Water! I must be lying in a small stream!_

The feeling of the life giving substance gave him the moral survival boost that he needed. He attempted to fidget just enough to get his helmet off. He struggled to do it but the helmet was just too tight. He then tried to turn his head to get some of the water to flow into his helmet. He was hardly able to do that. He was only able to get a few trickles of water into the side of his helmet.

He swore. _Where's my team?_ He thought to himself. Where did Obli and X go? Where was Side-Swipe? Probably dead. Rusher then turned his head back to see a grizzly sight. A scumbag had his blaster centimeters from his face. Rusher froze, his vision returning but blurry.

"Take your helmet off." The soldier ordered the trooper. When Rusher didn't move, the filgin scumbag kicked Rusher in the side. But Rusher couldn't protect himself; he couldn't'. His arms and legs didn't even flinch when he got kicked.

An expression of realization washed over the scums face. He carefully reached down, still aiming his blaster at Rusher's face, and with one brown gloved, human hand, removed Rusher's helmet. The stark sunlight blinded Rusher as his head fell backwards onto rocks and flowing water. He inhaled the cool air around him, preparing for his fate.

"Why are you doing this?" the scum asked. Rusher's vision started to neutralize and come into focus. His eyes fell upon the young rebel who now, seemed more scared than he had the moment before. He had a classic dark green rebel hat on and vest. His A280 blaster rifle started to sag a little and not point directly at Rushers' face. He seemed to be no older than 20 and his ginger hair had fallen a bit under the brim of his hat. His long face was matched by his height.

"Why do I do this?" Rusher repeated. "Yes. Why do you try to destroy us?" the boy asked. A bit of sadness started to creep into his green eyes. Rusher coughed. "Can I have some wat-""NO! No. Answer me!" Rusher looked at him for a moment. Just then did he realize that they were in a shallow ravine. "Well maybe first you should ask yourself why you split up from your squad. Rusher gave him a little mocking smile. The boy looked as if he was about to pull the trigger before a long green sniper shot collided with his chest, throwing the boy back a meter or two.

Rusher stared in shock. Did that just happen… He couldn't believe what had just happened. He gasped for a breath as he laid his head back down in relief. He had already prepared himself to die. But he was alive. A small smile crossed his face which juxtaposed the still continuous blaster fire nearby.

A moment later, the sound of a speeder bike came up behind him. A scout Trooper jumped off and inspected him, a sniper rifle clung to his back. He kneeled down quickly next to Rusher, took Rushers' helmet and put it back on him. "Can you move your limbs?" he asked as he quickly kneaded Rushers' arm, feeling for any injuries. "No." Rusher mumbled to his savior. "Yeah. Looks as if you broke all your arms and legs." _Shilvit_ "You'll just have to hold tight bud." He reached into his side pouch and pulled out a small capsule. Rusher's heart sank. The scout Trooper flicked it on then threw it onto Rusher's chest.

The scout hopped back onto his bike and before he took off he looked down at Rusher and said one last thing. "Act dead."

 **Thanks for reading guys! I have a ton packed for this story and I can't wait to write it! Make sure you favorite and follow this story so that you get an alert when I update next. Cya!**


	3. Deploying

Log entry #34

 _-"Until this day, I still don't know what happened to Side-swipe. I guess that he is still somewhere on the planet of Yevit. Whether he was in one piece or not is a different question. Good old AS-12 was a good trooper. But he is dead now. So that doesn't matter. When the rescue droid came to pick me up from my position in the small creek, its cold metal graspers were completely covered in blood. It took me back to the injured ship where I was tended to for my injuries. Poor Obli. He lost pretty much his entire team within the span of half an hour. Luckily, X had been looking for a new squad to join so he joined ours. There is still an open spot since I am not active currently. On the positive side, my benefits weren't cut and my family back home would still receive my yearly pay. But they're a quarter light year away… haven't seen them in six years. I miss them so much._

 **Obli's POV**

Obli ripped a piece of meat off the bone of some animal with his teeth as he set down with his metal cup of water. He chewed the cooked meat, unaware of the recent warning about contaminated mess hall meat. Other unarmored Imperial Troopers sat around the moderately crowded mess hall, enjoying their extended lunch. The low ceiling sported long, fluorescent lights.

X sat across the table from him, hardly touching his food. He stared into his pile of dried fruits as if trying to find something there. Obli looked up from his small feast to see the unsettled look in his partner's eyes. He finished chewing and asked him a question. "What's troubling you?" X looked up and stared at Obli for a second. His larger build being shown off by his skin tight shirt. "Of course you wouldn't be able to figure out on your own." Obli sat back, insulted. X gave a slight chuckle. "C'mon, you've got to know that you're the scapegoat of this group." Obli fumbled for words. "W-well we've only known each other for a week. How have you caught on to that already?" "I'm a quick learner." X responded.

"But we have a problem. We don't have a third member yet." He looked up at Obli. "Right." He said as he took another sip of water.

X sat back. "And you know what'll happen if we go so much more than two weeks without a deployable team. "Don't remind me." Obli said. "Don't want to end up on scrub duty." "No. We need to find that third member, who may also become our leader." "Well we already filed for a third and if any poor guy gets his two partners blown up, he'll get sent our way. Lucky!" X once again stared solemnly at Obli "That's not funny Obli." Obli humbled up real quick.

X sighed as he picked up some sort of blue dried fruit and inspected it. "Back on my planet, I knew most things about it. I knew the plants, animals, history." He paused. "I thought I knew it all." He took a deep breath. "It seemed so big. But as soon as the Empire recruited me, I got exposed to an entire galaxy. Before long I realized that I didn't know a thing. So much information in the universe. So much." He held up the dried fruit. "Hell, I don't even know what this is. It could be poisonous for all I know. We don't even know what system it came from."

X sat the fruit back down on his plate after inspecting it for another second. Obli took another sip of water then looked back at X, grappleing for words. "W-when I left my home planet Groth-" "What?" X interrupted. "Most have that response. It's a small planet in the Grothian system." X squinted at him. "Nevermind. No one knows where it is. But when I left you know what my grandfather told me?" X shrugged. "I expect you to learn much more than you ever did here. Maybe some of your obliviousness will wear off. And for the most part, I think it has." Obli ended as he took another bite of meat. X just slightly smiled back, knowing that none of it had worn off. "And I bet you told Rusher and Side-Swipe that story, correct?" "Of course." X nodded in understanding.

"Well what do you suppose we do now?" X asked as he pushed his tray away. Obli shrugged as he finished off his water. "Maybe we walk around to see if anybody in here is looking for a member or two." X shook his head. "Let them come to us." "Why?" "Because we want them to be the ones at our mercy. Not the other way around." "Aah."

The two were silent for a second. "Want to go to the armory and see who can disassemble our weapons and put them back together the fastest?" X leaned back. "Even though mine is twice the size of yours, I'll still win." "Yeah right." Obli said with a smirk as he took the fried fruit off X's plate and ate it.

 **On nearby planet of Salamajar**

The Queen witch sat upon her throne as the green mist swirled from the roots of the massive gnarled plants that made up her throne room. Her breathing slits in her neck dripped with ooze as she struggled to smell out the person next to her.

"It's me Helsbra. Jokrion." The male creature let the queen know as he drew closer. His slimy skin matched hers except that his was green, not purple. Their slender bodies showed off their skeletal structure underneath.

Jokrion slowly got down on both knees in front of Helsbra. His goopy knees sunk into the damp soil with sparce sparkels of flourecent dirt particles as he waited for his Queen to speak.

The Queen, Helsbra,sat still, breathing heavily with her head leaned back against the bcak of the throne made of wood and stones. She opened her old mouth so speak. A studdery, blubbery noise escaped when she spoke. "Are they coming?" Jokrion looked up slowly. His wide, blue eyes came upon the ancient witch Queen. "I fear for out race." The Queen took another stuffed and difficult berath in, then out, a small seisure racking her entire body as she tried to take a deeper breath. Foul odor of decades of uncleaned teeth escaped from her mouth. Jokrion didn't seem to notice, his eyes were filled with concern.

"What should we do Queen?" "Come here my son." she spoke suprisingly clearly. Jokrion stood up and walked up the few steps then kneeled down next to Helsbra, taking her hand. He repeated his question. "What should we do? They'll be here before long." The queen didn't respond at first. It didn't even seem as if she had heard him. Jokrion tilted his head and squinted with concern. "All of the colony attemps have failed, Helsbra. There is no where to run."

Helsbra's head slowly turned to the right to look at Jokrion. Her crusty purple eyes opened as wide as they could and just stared at him. They stayed in silence for a moment.

"What?" Jokrion pried. She spoke "Have faith." That wasn't the answer that he had wanted. "But-" "Silence child. I will fight my final fight when the time comes. I will protect you and all our people."

Jokrion fell silent as his gaze slowly fell to the floor. "We need-" he paused, wary that he may offend the queen "-more than faith."

The Queen, in an amazing burst of speed grabbed Jokrion by the arm and held him in her grip tightly, startling Jokrion. "Have I taught you nothing?!" She spat. "Faith is what our race is built upon. Without it, none of us would be here. None of us!" Jokrion Stared back into the Queen's intense, wide, old eyes. After a moment he nodded, slowly.

She released his arm and fell back into her throne, breathing heavily, exasperated by the short burst of energy.

Jokrion stood back up and looked down upon his queen and mother, who's body was failing her. Her body shook once more with a seisure that put her to sleep. Her uneven breathing echoed around the room.

Seeing her like this over the last few years have made the people of the glintio race scared. The Queen was their life line and without a proper heir to her throne, and the evil empire prepared to decimate their planet, it was hard to keep the faith that the Queen proclaimed would save them.

With a few careful steps backward, Jokrion turned and left the throne room, even more concerned than he was when he had entered.

Obli and X finished polishing their weapons before setting them against the wall of the bunk room that they shared with two other Troopers of equivalent rank. The other two troopers were very traditional and stuff, Obli thought. They didn't ever seem to step an inch out of line. The two duos had only shared a room for a single night, but the other occupants seemed very much on the low side of the rambunctious scale.

Obli removed his socks and threw them right on the floor from the top bunk. He and X were the only ones in the room and the door was closed so he didn't care.

"Get those infernal, stinking pieces of clothing away from me." X commanded in a firm voice from the bottom bunk. "You'll get used to it, X. Rusher and Side-swipe did and it only took them three whole months." Obli laughed. "Fantastic" The delayed response of X was almost comedic.

Rusher. Obli thought. He wouldn't be back for active deployment for at least a month. But thank the Empire that they had state of the art medical technology and practices. With their machines, all of his broken bones and internal bleeding would be fixed four times quicker than it would take naturally.

"How do you lug that heavy thing around everywhere?" Obli asked out of the blue, talking about X's thermal detonator launcher. "Well I don't use it on every deployment. I use a standard blaster if the situation calls for it." Obli laid on his back, his right hand on his belly, his face a foot and a half from the ceiling.

"Huh. You a good shot?" "One of the best in my entire original platoon." "Really?" "Yeah. I once hit a rebel on a stolen speeder bike when I was stationed on a Salamajar moon." "What were they doing stealing a bike?" Obli asked. "She was escaping from our detention center. Hit her right in the shoulder." X paused. "She was still alive when we went up to her." "What happened?" X paused once more. The only noise Obli could hear was the sound of the massive engines of the Imperial class star destroyer, firing into space.

"An officer ordered me to put a shot into her head, then dispose of the body."

Obli went silent for a moment. She was a traitor, after all, to the empire. She disobeyed direct laws and she payed for them. "Well I guess she had what was coming for her."

"Yeah. I guess." was all X responded with.

Just then their door slid open and an officer stepped inside. Obli and X both immieiateley got out of their beds and stood to attention.

The officer spoke quickly. "You both are requested immieiately on the deployment deck. Gear up for a fight. You're on your way to Salamajar."


End file.
